Private It was great running into you.

[Jaa Ardan]

“‘Nother cup? It’s on the house!” A voice cheerily asked from behind.

Jaa Ardan took his eyes away from the (tiny) market square and the handful of beings spending their morning there to turn over his shoulder.

Standing behind him with a million credit smile and a pot of hot caf was the young woman who owned the cafe Jaa was currently patronizing. She had dark smooth skin and her braided hair snaked down her back past her shoulders.

“I'd love that. Thank you.” Jaa said, brushing a lock of brown hair from his eyes.

“If I didn’t know better I’d think you had a thing for me.” The shop owner teased as she poured.

“Who says I don’t?” Jaa asked. The woman was cute enough that was for certain and if Jaa hadn’t come back to Naboo for a reason, well the shop owner would be reason enough to stay.

She finished pouring, set her pot on the table and gave Jaa a playful swat on the shoulder.

“If you were here for me you wouldn’t have spent the last four mornings sitting outside my shop and staring across the street.”

Seven Hells Ardan, clocked by a civilian; what would Baros say?

“So what’s her name? Is she local? Maybe I know her and can tell you all sorts of nasty stories so you start spending more than just the time it takes to order inside with me.”

Jaa grinned unabashedly. This woman was the exact kind of trouble Jaa would love to be in.

“Briana Sal-Soren, actually. We're old friends and I heard she was staying out this way.” Jaa told the shop owner. A solemnness fell over the shop owners face.

Jaa had been staking out this particular market square in a town near the Gallo mountains for nearly the last week. Word was there was a Jedi enclave nearby. A Jedi enclave that sometimes procured some of their supplies right here in town. A Jedi enclave led by Jedi Knight Briana Sal-Soren.

“I’m sorry,” the shop owner said.

“It’s no trouble if you don’t know her.” Jaa told the woman.

“No, I do know her. Well, know of her.” The woman corrected. “She’s a Jedi you know. Spends a lot of her time at the temple or church or base or whatever they call it.”

“A Jedi? You don’t say.” Jaa said.

Jaa was well aware that Bri was Jedi but feigned his ignorance all the same.

“Yep. Strange to think how many might be up there. Don’t see much of them around, a few of the younger students will come by every so often but I haven’t seen Briana in a long time, not since before the funeral.”

She may have expected Jaa to react in some way. Ask which funeral she referred to but Jaa already knew. He was all too painfully aware that Briana and her siblings were forced to lay their parents to rest.

“It’s been a while then?” He asked.

“Mhm. Maybe a year since I’ve seen her, maybe more.”

His sources may have gone nearly all the way dry since his last kark up but Jaa had enough reason to trust the information he had to risk coming back to Naboo and confronting Briana.

If she is even here.

And it would be risky and a confrontation both. Jaa hadn’t seen Bri since the funeral either. Hadn’t really spoken to her even then.

“You’re an old friend?” The shop owner asked.

“I’m sorry?” Jaa asked.

“You said you were her friend. What’s your name?”

“Magnus.” Jaa answered. It was not at the moment entirely smart to be Jaa Ardan. “Thanks for the caf.” He told the woman slightly abruptly, laying a fist full of credits on the table.

Jaa didn’t wait for her to respond before getting up from his seat and crossing through the open air market.

He went pretty much unnoticed or at the least unremarked upon. There wasn’t a soul that payed him any mind and that was good. His rushed leaving and hurried crowd weaving led him to a stall of…something, he didn’t know what, it wasn’t important. What was important was the young woman who had stopped to take her time in front of the stall.

“Briana.” Jaa said quietly from behind her. It was Jo easy trick to sneak up on a Jedi especially for someone with no touch of The Force at all but Jaa had learned ways to make it easier. Crowds helped to hide a person’s presence, so did showing up when not expected, and Jaa had even learned some meditative techniques that were supposed to help hide one’s presence to Force users, he’d used every technique he knew to get this far.

It was often a dumb thing to be Jaa Ardan but it was hardly ever this dumb. Today, being Jaa Ardan on Naboo about to confront, a Jedi, a Sal-Soren Jedi at that, and Briana beyond all that was down right stupid.

Months ago it had be revealed that Jaa Ardan was a agent for The New Way, a group of terrorists, responsible for a bombing on Coruscant and an attack on Naboo that had left several dead, including Briana’s parents. Jaa had been named as chief suspect in both those things and had been accused of trying to kill Brandyn, Bri’s brother while the man was serving time in prison.

Jaa was of course a member of The New Way but they and he were no terrorists, agents of change, soldiers fighting for a better way, a new way, yes but not a terrorist no.

Jaa did break into prison and come face to face with Brandyn, to break him out but not to kill him. Brandyn, Jaa was certain did not rush to issue a correction, the gutless coward.

Jaa had no hand in the Coruscant bombing. He’d hunted down and gotten rid of the people that were responsible. Jaa had no hand in the attack on Naboo, he almost got caught in it himself. Jaa had no hand in the death of Briana’s parents. Not directly but he may as well’ve. He should have been there to protect them or him at least but he wasn’t.

“Try to relax.” Jaa told the Jedi as he shoved a hard metallic object into the small of her back. “We need to talk.”

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Jaa Ardan
​

Briana had been in the market square to oversee the delivery of supplies for the Enclave—basic rations, some medical equipment, and new tools for the younger Jedi in training. Though most of the arrangements could have been handled by others, she'd come herself, eager for a moment to escape the everyday hustle and bustle for something more mundane and simple.

The market always pulsed with verdant energy in the early mornings—vendors shouting their wares, the scent of fresh fruits and Naboo spices thick in the air. It was a far cry from the quiet serenity of the Jedi Temples and Enclaves that she spent the majority of her time at now, but there was a part of her that enjoyed the subtle disorder of it all. The ebb and flow of people around her, the hurried exchanges, the unpredictability—it reminded her of the rare childhood days when her parents would bring her and her siblings into the city to explore, where structure dissolved into a kind of barely controlled chaos. Back then, that chaos had been exhilarating. Now, it was less about the thrill and more about the quiet comfort of anonymity, of blending into a current far larger than herself, even if only temporarily.

Lingering at one of the many stalls, Briana's eyes moved over the assortment of training tools laid out before her. They were functional, durable—perfect for the new batch of initiates that'd be coming to the Enclave. The vendor, a young Gungan gentleman, was animated and enthusiastic, detailing the benefits of each item in a steady stream of information. Briana nodded along in what she hoped were the right places, though she couldn't be entirely sure from some of the faces she saw the man pull. The Gungan's thick accent, paired with his excitement, made following the specifics difficult; and just when she was about to try and thank him for his time, she noticed the pressure of something cold against her back—a threat disguised as a conversation starter.

Briana's senses flared, although it was too little, too late, instinct kicking in as confusion quickly followed.

She should have felt his presence sooner—should have caught the familiar undercurrent in the Force, the subtle shift that always came when typical, reckless, thoughtless, Jaa Ardan was near. But, she hadn't... how had he gotten this close without her noticing?

Was she really that exhausted, or had he become that skilled?

Her posture stiffened slightly, though outwardly she did the best that she could to try and remain composed. There was no reason to draw attention to the situation, not here, not with so many bystanders.

Catching the eye of her Gungan vendor, Briana cut him off mid-sentence with a polite nod. "If you'll excuse me, I have some other urgent business that needs my attention." she said, tipping her head to indicate to Jaa standing behind her, her voice betraying nothing of the tension coiling in her stomach.

The Gungan looked disappointed but made no attempt to stop her as she went along with wherever Jaa was leading her, mind racing, calculating possible escape routes, subtle maneuvers, anything that could turn the situation in her favor.

"Try to relax," Jaa's voice came from behind her, low and controlled. "We need to talk."

Briana's jaw tightened, the sharpness of her retort rising unbidden. "Funny. Is this how you typically start conversations? With a blaster pointed at someone's back? We have nothing to talk about, Jaa."

 

[Jaa Ardan]

Things were, surprisingly, for the moment going Jaa's way. He'd more than half expected to lose an arm as soon as he jabbed Bri in the back. She'd always been quick to act and slow to think. A Sal-Soren trait if there ever was one. To what could reasonably be called disappointment, Jaa found himself still having all his limbs as Briana allowed herself to be led to no more private a place than a vacant storefront.

They stood under an awning and talked.

Briana's jaw tightened, the sharpness of her retort rising unbidden. "Funny. Is this how you typically start conversations? With a blaster pointed at someone's back? We have nothing to talk about, Jaa."

"No, ma'am." Jaa answered, ever the servant. Old habits and all that. "They do seem to often end that way. What do you think that says about me?" He asked.

"Well that's the thing Briana, we have more than a few things to talk about but it's only one of 'em that's got me standing here talking to you. You can turn around." Jaa said.

When Briana turned around she would be faced not with a blaster in Jaa's hand but his empty mug of caf from the shop across the way and half a smile on his face. The same look he'd always had when he got caught in some sort of mischief. The same look she had probably seen a hundred times.

They'd grown up together. Well, that was putting it a bit strongly. Jaa's father had worked for Briana's family, Jaa was only a few years older than Bri and her siblings and so they grew up in quite close proximity to one another but by no stretch was it together.

The Sal-Soren children had a mother who was alive. More than Jaa could've claimed. They had a father that loved them immensely. Jaa's father loved him too it must be said but not more than he'd loved Jaa's mother.

For a long time Jaa had resented his father for that. He hadn't understood how mourning a dead wife came before raising a son. Now that he was a man, Jaa understood.

"Listen, I need your help." Jaa Ardan made no attempt at coyness. No feigned nonchalance. He was desperate. He prayed to Shiraya that he reeked of it.

"Use your power, read my…"

Not mind. She would expect deception there.

"…my heart. My soul. Search my feelings."

His being here should illustrate just how out of options Jaa was. Even if he wasn't a wanted murderer slash terrorist. Coming to Briana for the help he needed was as desperate an act as Jaa could think. Seven hells, a handful of months ago Jaa had risked breaking into an alliance prison to get Brandyn's help rather than just come to the Sal-Soren Jedi knight that walked around freely.

He had done that for her and he would do anything for her.

"It's Blaire…”

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Jaa Ardan
​

"That you have lousy conversational skills, for starters." Briana murmured, turning slowly as she was bidden, half expecting the sharp blast of a bolt to pass through her gut the moment she did so.

Instead, her eyes narrowed in on the sight of Jaa with an empty caf mug he held aloft. That familiar smirk, the ‘gotcha’ one she'd seen a thousand times in their youth that tugged the corners of his lips sky-high, was plastered across his face. It was a smile that once made her laugh. Now, all it did was churn something cold and dark inside her gut. Painful, buried memories regurgitated. Memories of her parents, of betrayal and loss, and of Jaa's part in it all.

While she’d never believed the rumors that he was the one who’d been responsible for the death of her parents, it also didn’t matter. Jaa was still tied to it, bound to the same hate-driven group her father built to destroy what she, her brother, and her mother were. That connection was enough. Enough that Briana didn’t smile back. Enough that her eyes, usually warm and open, hardened into a sharp, unyielding stare. Enough that the corners of her mouth pulled tight into a thin line, arms folding across her chest like a shield.

“You want me to ‘search your feelings?’" she repeated incredulously, a flame rising inside her, burning her throat. The urge to punch him—just one good swing—reared its ugly head. A vestige of the old Briana, the one who, like Brandyn, often acted first and thought later. “Why?” She continued, tasting blood on the back of her tongue. “So you can try to make me feel sorry for you, so I’ll help? You, Jaa Ardan—the man who is part of the same organization that got my parents killed—that nearly destroyed my family and has hurt them time and time again. I should arrest you now. Take you to the authorities. I—”

"It's Blaire…”

At that, Briana’s lips snapped shut. “...What?” In truth, Briana had long begun to accept the possibility that Blaire might be dead. There’d been one fleeting moment where the two of them connected through the Force months ago— which in itself was a sudden and unexpected shock—followed by a complete, utter void.

No whispers on the wind, no flicker of a presence. Nothing but silence.

But, despite efforts to ignore it, Briana could feel his honesty in this, the thrum of his desperation in the Force, the cracks in what appeared like an otherwise calm facade.

He was serious, for certain. But that didn’t mean she trusted him, at least not fully.

“I tried to find Blaire months ago.” Briana started, “I infiltrated a New Way base, interrogated several of the members... and there was nothing. Not a single sign of her anywhere. Are you saying you know where she's at?"

​

 

[Jaa Ardan]

You, Jaa Ardan—the man who is part of the same organization that got my parents killed—that nearly destroyed my family and has hurt them time and time again. I should arrest you now. Take you to the authorities. I—”

"An organization founded by your father." He said pointedly.

Briana had always been righteous but sanctimony had always been more Brandyn's style. It made her ugly. Very close to the top of the ever decreasing list of things Jaa thought impossible was Briana being ugly.

"Maybe if your brother hadn't been so hell bent on betraying Baros…"

He would still be alive.

He left the words unsaid. A kindness for Briana, someone who had been his friend in the past. If she were Brandyn he would've said it. Seven hells if she were Blaire he probably would've said it. The first because digging at Bran was one of the few things that could always, always, bring a smile to his face and the other because he knew Blaire could handle hearing it, would likely need to hear it.

Briana, however, required other tactics. Forcing Bri to be defensive was a sure fire way to have her dig in and if Briana Sal-Soren was anything other than reckless, it was stubborn.

“I tried to find Blaire months ago.” Briana started, “I infiltrated a New Way base, interrogated several of the members... and there was nothing. Not a single sign of her anywhere. Are you saying you know where she's at?"

"No. I'm saying I don't." He emphasized the last word.

It wasn't unusual for Blaire to be just gone and Jaa wasn't her husband or boyfriend or her minder and was often just as clueless as everyone else about where she was. The difference was that until now if he went to look he would find her. He'd spent a long long time looking and come up with nothing.

"I know all about your adventure on Onderon." He snorted derisively "of course interrogation got you nowhere. Just let me see anything you do have from there. Files, disks, maps, karking blueprints, what uniforms they were wearing, anything, you have to have something, and it would probably help to have a look at that droid too. The old imperial one. So back to your place then?"

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Jaa Ardan ​

"An organization founded by your father." He said pointedly. "Maybe if your brother hadn't been so hell bent on betraying Baros…"

A part of herself that she thought she'd long ago gotten control over, reared itself up in a moment of weakness, and before she could think about what she was doing, Briana's hand flew of its own accord to strike Jaa across the face. "Brandyn has his flaws, but don't you ever insinuate something like that again... My father betrayed us. Threw every ideal he taught us out the window just because he hated the force so much, hated what we were... if he hadn't betrayed us, then he wouldn't be dead." There was feeling of hypocrisy that tugged at her gut as she finished her rant. Never before had she admitted that truth. Certainly not out loud, and never to herself. How many times had she used Brandyn as a scape goat to avoid it? Despite always knowing deep down who was to really blame for everything that happened. It was easier than confronting the truth about the kind of person her father had been, easier than confronting the harrowing truth of his beliefs.

But she wasn't going to let her brother bear the burden or take the blame of their father's choices any longer. Not from her, and certainly not from anyone else.

Her hand lingered in the air for a moment after, palm stinging as much as her conscience as the realization of what she'd just done sank in quickly. "I- Jaa, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that." She'd always been quick with her emotions and the impulses they stirred in her, but she'd never lost that battle with Jaa, and it certainly wasn't becoming of a Jedi Knight.

Biting her lip and taking her red hand into the other, Briana rubbed her palm and listened as he went on to explain to her what he knew, or rather what he didn't know about Blaire...

...Not missing his meaning there, either. Part of her wanted to pummel him again, for that. Luckily, she thought better of it this time and stuffed down the thought.

"I have some data from Onderon. Files, maps, intercepted communications... but I'm not sure if we'll find anything useful. Not even on SID-10S "Sid" , he was destroyed by an intruder a month ago and I haven't been able to get him back online since then."

​

 

[Jaa Ardan]

Humility was a lesson every man could afford to learn and sooner was better than later and even then the occasional reminder didn't hurt… well, not always…this reminder sure as hell stung.

The son of an Ace Correllian fighter pilot and if he had to guess the best damn rifleman affiliated with the New way, Jaa Ardan had damn good reflexes. Just not as good as a Jedi apparently. He could feel the part of his face where she had struck him start to redden.

After first lashing out physically, a real Jedi thing to do, she thought to lecture him. Briana always ran to Brandyn's defense because she knew he was unable to defend himself.

He took her verbal and physical reprimand stoically, taking maybe a half step toward her after she him and that was merely out of instinct but it was when she apologized for it that really set him off.

"Fine, I won't insinuate," he said harshly "your dad would still be alive if Brandyn knew how to let things not be all about him," Jaa did not yell, they were after all still on a public street. "If any of you fething Jedi knew how to do that, than your father wouldn't have needed a new way, the galaxy wouldn't need a new way."

His half-step toward her had turned into two full steps and he threatened to be in her personal space but stopped short. Humility.

"Baros didn't betray you Briana, he loved you, he was fighting for you, for you, for Brandyn, for Blaire. He fought for all of us who lost everything they had because a handful of beings in the galaxy were born with magic powers and chose that as a reason to look down on and ignore the rest of us!"

Jaa thought of his mother and of his sisters and what lives they could've had if they did not die on that transport reduced to nothing more than collateral in some battle between weirdos with different colored lightsabers, what lives they should've had. He thought about Bast Ardan his father, and the father he could've been if he hadn't be forced to grieve a murdered wife.

"He wanted equality; a galaxy where the manner of your birth and the number of bacteria in your blood didn't make the rest of us inferior, didn't make people like me or Blaire or my mother pawns in the dejarik game between Jedi and Sith."

Now who's lecturing who?

"I have some data from Onderon. Files, maps, intercepted communications... but I'm not sure if we'll find anything useful. Not even on SID-10S "Sid" SID-10S "Sid" , he was destroyed by an intruder a month ago and I haven't been able to get him back online since then."

"I'll find something," he told her with confidence. Jaa was sure there was something Briana missed that he wouldn't, not because he was any more brilliant, no probably far from it but he knew what to look for or what not to look for. Jaa would know what leads were true, which were false, which were true but unhelpful, which were false but would lead to truth, that was the benefit he had of being part of the organization they were trying to track.

"I don't need the droid to be working, just his memory core, you still have that don't you? Just let me get a look at this stuff."

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Jaa Ardan ​

Briana's eyes narrowed, a mixture of pain and indignation flashing across her face. "You act like my Dad was some noble martyr fighting for equality, while in the same karking breath say my blood is 'infected'. Do you actually have any idea what his 'New Way' truly entailed? The experiments that were sanctioned on innocent Force users? Bystanders? The cages where they kept people locked up like animals? Brandyn and Cybelle found one of those facilities, you know. Filled with the suffering, stripped of humanity. Is that the equality you think my father was fighting for? What the New Way was fighting for?"

She did not shy away when he took a step forward, but scowled up at him and straightened her spine. "Cybelle was captured and tortured by them, Jaa. Cybelle. You remember her, right? Pretty girl, gentle soul, wouldn't hurt a fly? But what happened to her was okay, right? Because she was 'born wrong'. Lossa was captured too. Tortured, almost lost her life. Did lose an arm. You know who pulls that kind of chit? Sith. Evil is evil Jaa. It doesn't suddenly become noble because you decide a cause is just or because you give it a pretty name and say it's so. You can't love someone while actively trying to erase everything they are."

Briana wasn't entirely sure why she bothered trying to argue with him, he was as stubborn as she was and maybe more.

Perhaps it was simply because they'd been friends once and she wanted him to be on her side again. Maybe it was because she couldn't accept that her father loved her, how could he?

She could vividly recall all of the times Baros Sal-Soren condemned Brandyn whenever he picked up a stick and pretended to be a Jedi Knight; fearing that her father's disapproving gaze might be turned on her next, Briana suppressed the part of her that'd made her unique... and her father praised her for it as a result. Had he ever truly seen her? Or did he only see what he wanted his children to be? What he thought fit into his vision of how the galaxy should work?

Briana huffed.

"I have the memory core... it's back at my house." she nodded, breaking away from the toe-to-toe stand off. "Come on."

​

 

[Jaa Ardan]

There was hardly a more sure fire way to get under the skin of the privileged than reminding them of their privilege.

Yes, Bri your blood is tainted. In more ways than one.

Bloodline or Force powers. Either, probably both blinded her to the plight of real people of the rest of them who had no choice but latch themselves onto the few or risk being crushed under their heel.

If Briana hoped a list of "atrocities" with no context or true understanding would be enough to soften the conviction of Jaa Ardan, she was well more naive than he would've thought her to be.

"A cause doesn't stop being worthwhile just because their method makes you squeamish," Jaa said plainly. "Sith, Jedi, just words, The Force is the evil Briana. Not you, not Darth Whoever-The-Hell. No, it's the random energy field caused by bacteria that is the problem. There is no choice, no merit, it's all random and the rest of us pay for it. Do regular people do evil things? Yes, yes they do, but when they do it doesn't require calling in someone with superpowers to solve it. Some teenager from an academy on Korriban can take a two week crash course and half the galaxy burns unless someone like you shows up to put an end to it. Why? How is it fair ninety percent of the galaxy needs to bow to the rest of you?"

He shouldn't be arguing with her. There wasn't time to argue with her but Jaa was so angry, was so hurt on behalf of Baros Sal-Soren that he could hardly think of anything else. He shouldn't expect anything else from Briana. He knew her, better than many knew her, and he knew that once she had an idea of what was "right" she was like a kath with a bone, but her deciding that Baros didn't love her because he also cared for the well-being of others at the expense of her unearned exceptionalism was infuriatingly selfish.

Jaa wanted to rage to grab her by the shoulders and scream at her but what was the point? She made it clear that the status quo was acceptable so long as she wasn't the one being stepped on, as long as Briana and Brandyn were able to call themselves "better" the galaxy was alright and anyone who thought it wasn't was the bad guy.

"What happened to Cybelle and to Lossa is…unfortunate," he stopped short of saying he was sorry for it. He was. Sorry that is but it would undermine his position to admit. "Change comes with a cost."

He expected her to hit him again. Instead she huffed took a step back and invited him to her house to check out her leads and poke around with the droid's memory core.

"Lead the way,"

Jaa encouraged Briana to finish her morning chores that she'd come to town for. It didn't take too long and soon they were headed to her place. Her in the speeder that brought her own and Jaa in the passenger seat alongside her, his own speeder left forgotten in town, well, not his speeder but the one he "borrowed" from the spaceport in Keren City.

"Not to step on your Jedi senses," Jaa said after several silence-filled minutes of flying. "We have a tail,"

At first he hadn't been sure if they were being followed or he was being paranoid but sure enough even outside city limits and well into the country the very same over large bulk transport stayed a steady distance behind them. It was a big transport, most likely used to deliver industrial materials. If they were hostile like he presumed then that thing could hold probably something like fitty men.

Jaa wasn't exactly dreaming to find out.

"Let's see if you really know how to fly this thing," a familiar smile stretched across his face, the memory of him and Briana in a similar situation when they were barely more than kids. Although that time it wasn't a suspicious speeder following them but the RNSF after Teyla reported their speeder stolen. Technically Jaa and Bri had only borrowed it.

Briana Sal-Soren

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

Outfit: XoXo | Equipment: Lightsaber, Echo Stone | Tag: Jaa Ardan ​

The lump of tension that knotted in Briana's throat refused to fade, no matter how many times she swallowed. Her jaw was set hard, lips pressed into a narrow line as she guided the speeder away from the bustling market stalls and out onto the open road and towards the plains. Initially, she tried to let the quiet of Naboo's rolling hills soothe her nerves—it was one of the reasons her and Aiden had chosen to reside near the Gallo mountains in the first place, long before she'd even thought of trying to build an Enclave. The lush scenery, the feel of fresh air against her skin, the hush that came when away from major cities—all things that calmed her.

But Jaa Ardan's words roiled in her head, each new mile of distance from the marketplace failing to bring any real sense of peace. Every time she thought she'd left the conversation behind, Jaa's voice echoed again in her mind, re-playing their argument like a stubborn holo on repeat. 'What happened to Cybelle and Lossa is…unfortunate. Change comes with a cost.' That callous dismissal of one of her best friends and her cousins suffering lit a flicker of rage that threatened to turn volcanic. She could still see Lossa struggling with the trauma and the loss of her arm. She could still see Cybelle laid out on her medical bed, Brandyn wringing his hands next to her and at a loss of what to do. It'd been more than "unfortunate."

But what good did it do to rail at Jaa now? He'd long since bought into the twisted rhetoric that The New Way and her father must have peddled at him for years.

Briana wasn't going to talk him out of it. He wasn't going to talk her into it. So, in the end, the two of them were at a bitter standstill.

Her fingers unconsciously wrapped around the steering yoke tighter, the cold ridges of the handle pressing marks into her skin. Despite herself, Briana risked a side-eye glance at the man riding shotgun. They'd been sitting in smothering silence for some minutes now—just the hum of repulsors, the low hiss of wind, and a tension lingering in the space between them that was thick enough to choke on.

That's when Jaa broke the silence.

"Not to step on your Jedi senses," Jaa said after several silence-filled minutes of flying. "We have a tail,"

Briana flicked a glance at the rearview display embedded in the speeder's dash. Sure enough, an overlarge, industrial-grade transport rumbled a few hundred meters back, matching their pace in a way no random cargo hauler would. Her heart beat once, hard. "Great," she muttered under her breath, scowling. "Friends of yours, I'm guessing?"

Rising adrenaline forced her shoulders to square. This wasn't her first chase. Ironically, he had taught her many of her best maneuvers. Yes, she was part Ee'everwest—but the part of her that thrived on speed, the part that felt an itch of excitement in the face of danger? That was all Sal-Soren, Corellian. And as a Corellian himself, Jaa had made sure to nurture that into her.

If he wanted a demonstration of what she'd learned on her own since then? Well, challenge accepted.

"Alright," she said under her breath. "Time to see how bad they want us. I'd strap in if I were you."

Briana reached under the dash and popped an access panel she purposely kept loose. Her fingers moving with blind familiarity to re-route a pair of cables. Blue sparks spat near her knuckles, causing a curse be muttered beneath her breath— then the speeder's engines roared, jolting forward with a surge that pressed both of them against their seats.

Grinding her teeth, she dared a hard left turn, shooting across a dirt road that cut through a field of tall, golden grasses. The transport rumbled behind, swerving in an attempt to keep up. Typical Unblessed muscle—heavily armed, lightly trained.

Wind whipped her braids out from the stylized crown that'd been pinned around her head, blowing against her neck, adrenaline surging. She was so sick of feeling pinned down. Sick of attacks, ambushes, threats. It was always something, and she poured those frustrations straight into her flying. "Feel free to shoot out one of their engines if they get too close," she hollered over the sound of the wind, the dryness of her tone belying a frenetic energy. She jammed the throttle further. "I'd rather not have to explain to the Queen why I put a crater in the middle of a bunch of farmland."

​

 

[Jaa Ardan]

"Great," she muttered under her breath, scowling. "Friends of yours, I'm guessing?"

Jaa let out a sharp bitter sound that approached a laugh without any of the joy “All my friends in the galaxy are in this speeder right now,”

It was his attempt at a joke, a reflex more than anything. The tension between himself and Briana was layered and thick as krayt scales but circumstance, the universe, seven hells…The Force had thrown a situation at them where trust was going to count for everything. Jaa grew up the son of a pilot, Jaa attended the academy on Naboo, –where he was thrown out, discharged dishonorably, arrested and thrown in jail– Jaa did some soldier for hire work for a few years fighting other folk’s wars for a fee, Jaa was a warrior for The New Way, Jaa was a soldier through and through. Consciously, unconsciously, subconsciously, he knew they needed to get on the same page or near enough if they wanted to get out of this alive to go back to disagreeing. Bridges needed built to common ground and Jaa’s foundation of choice, whether he chose it or not, was familiarity. Jokester Jaa who didn’t take nothing serious until he took it over serious.

"Alright," she said under her breath. "Time to see how bad they want us. I'd strap in if I were you."

Jaa laughed fully this time and in no way made an effort to strap in. Briana was a hell of a pilot, and she knew it. He knew it, too. Of course, he did, Jaa was the first to encourage her to become a hell of a pilot, not just another great pilot mind you, but a regular demon who flew.

He was totally and completely thrilled to his core as she tore them from the road and out into the fields, his vision a gilded blur as they tore through them. Jaa whooped in excitement.

There was a moment where Jaa’s excitement turned sour. From what like no where at all he remembered something Briana had said to them during their…debate.

You can't love someone while actively trying to erase everything they are."

His heart broke for her thinking about this, now, the wind in his hair, his heart pounding, and his face hurting from the size of his smile. She tried to make a point and instead made his for him.

She thought so little of her father because she thought so little of herself.

Jaa wished he knew how to make her believe the truth. That she was so much more than The Force. She was a demon pilot, she was beautiful, sharp as rancor teeth, brave, protective, controlling, loving. She was a thousand thousand more things that had nothing to do with making things float with her mind.

But The Force was power and power blinded you to everything else. Once you held it, you could never look beyond it, it became the light you saw your whole life tinged in.

"Feel free to shoot out one of their engines if they get too close," she hollered over the sound of the wind, the dryness of her tone belying a frenetic energy. She jammed the throttle further. "I'd rather not have to explain to the Queen why I put a crater in the middle of a bunch of farmland."

“Yes, ma’am,”

From the rear of the speeder Jaa procured a blaster rifle.

“Yours or soldier boy’s?” Jaa asked, climbing in the back of the speeder and steadying himself on a propped-up elbow pointing his barrel at the trailing hauler.

Jaa took aim, squeezed the trigger, and smiled. His aim was pure, the blaster bolt would score directly in the engine block and put their pursuer out of commission. Well, it would’ve.

“Shields!” He called over the torrential sound of wind. Jaa adjusted the power setting to the rifle, bigger blast, bigger kick, smaller accuracy. The second shot was just as true as the first and just like the first went ricocheting harmlessly off the shields. Jaa cranked the power again, as high as it could go, and fired. The shield warbled but never fully dissipated.

“Sorry, gone sorta flaccid over here. Got any other ideas?”

Briana Sal-Soren